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(No Model.) 4 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

B, TWEEDY 82; G. YULE.

HAT BRIM STIFFENING MACHINE.

No; 302,528. Patented July 22, 1884.

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0 v dweadz v a 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

B. TWEEDY 81; G. YULE.

HAT BRIM STIFFENING MAGHINE;

Patented July 22, 1884.

Jwvanars mmafi ww g ma/c/ My .%%mkagl NrrE STATES EATENT Er ca.

EDMUND TWEEDY, CF DANBURY, CONNECTICUT, AND GEORGE YULE, OF NEWARK, NENVJERSEY.

HAT-BRlM-STIFFENING MACHINE.

iSPECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 302,528, dated July22, 188%.

(No model) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDMUND TWEEDY and GEORGE YULE,'citizens of theUnited States, residing, the said TWEEL Y in Danbury, Fair- -fie1dcounty, Connecticut, and the said YULE in Newark, Essex county, NewJersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inHat-Brim-Stiffening Machines, fully described and represented in thefollowing specification and the accompanying drawings,forming a part ofthe same.

. The object of this invention is to provide a means of applying thestiffening-solution exclusively to the brim of a hat, or to any portionof the brim that may be desired, and the construction is therefore suchthat no other part'of the hat is touched by the pressingrollersemployed, and the stiffening maybe applied to the desired part of thebrim with greater ease and uniformity than has been possible with thedevices previously used.

' Our invention is particularly applicable to stiffening the border orouter part of the brims of flexible or semi-stiff hats which have beenstiffened while in the conical shape to a uniform degree throughout theentire brim, in the usual manner or by means of our invention, but towhich it is necessary to give a greater degree of stiffness in theborder,which is to be turned over in the process of curling,

in order that the curl may be made firmer and more rigid, and morecapable of retaining its form and contour. By our invention this can bedone while the hat is in the conical shape before blocking, or, asweprefer, after the hat has been finished! and the brim has beentrimmedto its proper shape for curling. This supplementary stiffeninghas usually been done to the hatwhile in this condition by dipping asmall sponge or other porous substance into a solution of stiffeningmaterial, and applying it by the hand to the edge of the brim. It isobvious that this method must be very uncertain in its results, both asregards the marginal line of its action, and also the quantity of thesolution imparted to different portions of the brim. It is alsodefective in that sufficient pressure cannot be exerted to cause thesolution to penetrate the felt,

Our invention is also applicable to the stiffening of the entire briinsof either soft, stiff, or semi-stiff hats, these terms being used todesignate the different degrees of the stiifening material imparted tothe hat.

Heretofore in the use of rubber stiffeningmachines thestiffening-solution has been applied by dipping the whole or part ofthehat into the tank containing the solution, and then removing thesuperfluous fluid by pressure between rollers. As such rollers areusually constructed with bearings at bothends, they cannot be applied toa single thickness of the felt at the edge of the brim, but the hat-bodyrequired to be doubled together in flat form and passed bodily betweenthe pressing-rollers. The pressure of the rollers may also be soadjusted as to cause the'solution to penetrate the felt to any requireddegree. It is obvious that when a doubled hat-body has the brim partdipped in a tank of solution no exactness can be secured in theapplication of the stiffening in a marginal band, and when such ahat-bodyis passed, with the tip first, through a pair of rollers, topress out the surplus solution, it is obvious that the hatbody will becreased at two opposite edges, and will be permanently marked at suchpoints if any stiffening be upon the rollers. It has therefore requireda constant wiping of the rollers to avoid such an effect upon thehatbody as far as possible; but no care has been able to prevent acertain degree of damage to the bodies by such crozing or folding of thehat-bodies under pressure between the stiffening-rollers. It has alsobeen difficult heretofore to maintain the solution at a fixed depth inthe dipping -tank when stiffening brims, that the workman mightdetermine the width of the stiffening upon the hat-brim by touching theedge of the body to the bottom of the tank. It has therefore been commonto use an adjustable bottom in such tanks, and to set the same a properdistance below the surface of the solution to correspond with the widthof the brim to be dipped, or to place bricks in the solution from timeto time to raise the level, as required, when use or evaporation hadaltered the same. Such devices, however, in no wise prevented theformation of acrust upon thesurface of the liquid, which has also been agreat source of annoyance in attempting to do fine work. Our invent-ionobviates all these difiiculties, and provides a perfect means ofapplying the stiffening to the brims of hats by the use of overhungrollers, one of which rotates in contact with the solution, and bypreserving the solution from the atmosphere in a reservoir anddischarging it at a uniform level into a small tank below thetransferring-roller. In our construction the rollers are overhung or journaled in bearings at one end only, so that the edge of the brim canbe passed between the two rollers and the stiffening be applied to thesame without the rollers touching any other part of the hat or body. Asthe hat during such operation turns around as if mounted on a hat-block,

the degree to which the brim penetrates the rollers may be accuratelygaged, and the stiffening thus confined exactly to the desired limit.The construction of the reservoir and tank are equivalent to theinverted bird-fountains and to certain inkstands in which theatmospheric pressure sustains a supply of fluid above the desired level,and nodischarge is effected until a Vent in the bottom of the reservoiris uncovered by the descent of the fluid in the tank. Such aself-feeding reservoir is therefore as well adapted for use in thedipping-tanks previously used as in the particular machine we haveinvented, and we do not therefore limit ourselves to one particularapplication of it. WVhen thus used, the reservoir can be made adjustablein the tank, as by an elevating-screw, so as to raise andlower the levelof the solution as required.

A machine embodying our improvement is shown in the annexed drawings, inwhich Figure 1 is a side elevation, looking toward the gage-table. Fig.2 is a plan of the parts shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectionof the tank and reservoir on line 00 min Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a frontelevation, and Fig. 5 is a side elevation, looking toward the tank, of asimilar machine, having conical rollers adapted to stiffen the brims ofbodies before blocking. The lower roller is arranged to dip into ortouch the solution in a stationary tank, and to thus carry a graduatedamount of the stiffening into contact with the brim, a scraper beingused, when desired, to remove any excess from the rim of the roller. Thereservoir is furthermore constructed to maintain a fixed level for thesurface of the solution in the tank, that the amount applied to theroller and hatbrim may vary as little as possible.

A is the frame of the machine, carrying two shafts, B B, one of whichcarries the stiffening-roller G and hand-wheel and crank D, and theother carries the pressure-roller O. The shafts are connected togetherby gears E, and the upper or pressure roller, 0, may be adjusted to orfrom the lower one, to press more or less of the solution into or fromthe brim, by a regulating-screw, F, the shaft B being carried in a looseyoke, G, which is pivoted into the frame A at H.

roller C is the front part of the tank K, ar-

ranged to carry the stiffening-solution in contact with the roller, thetank being extended along one side of the frame A to a point where areservoir, L, can be located without inter fering with the operatorshands in subjecting the hat to the rollers.

The hat is indicated by dotted lines M in Figs. 1 and 2, in which itwill be seen that the brim of the hat necessarily covers a part of thetank adjacent to the rollers.

The reservoir is formed with an outlet, N, and a vent-hole, O, at oneend, and is inverted in the tank, with its outlet at the level where thesurface of the fluid in the tank is intended to stand. Vhen such fluidis consumed below the level of the vent-hole O, a bubble of air entersthe reservoir through the vent and permits a portion of the fluid toescape until the vent-hole is again covered.

By this device a constant supply of the solution may be furnished to theroller 0; but in case the same applies too much of. the stiffening tothe brim I use the scraper]? (shown in Fig. 4) to remove the surplus,and thus secure exactly the amount required.

The scraper is shown as a leafspring attached to one side of the tank K,and is provided with an adjusting-screw, S, to vary its pressure, thespring being constructed to normally pass away from the roller.

The object of the entire construction is to apply thestiffening-solution in a band to the whole or any desired part of thebrim of the hat, and we do not therefore limit ourselves to the preciseconstruction shown, as it is obviously immaterial how the rollers aremounted to secure their application in the required manner, nor how thesolution is maintained at a fixed level, or, indeed, whether it bemaintained at such level or not if the scraper be used to remove thesurplus from the roller 0.

The chief advantage in the use of a reservoir,as L,is to protect thesolution from evaporation and thickening prior to its application to thehat, and the same object may be still further secured by providing acover to the tank, except where itis penetrated by the roller 0 orreservoir L. Such cover is shown at It, and might be made integral withthe reservoir by casting in one piece.

Having thus fully set forth the construction of our device as shownherein, it will be seen that the upper roller not only serves to drawthe brim along and rotate the hat, but may be regulated by the screw Fto discharge any desired proportion of the solution from the brim, andthus determine its stiffness quite inde pendently of the scraper l InFig. 5 the mounting of the tank adjustably upon the frame A is indicatedby a slotted foot and screw, K, by means of which the tank can bebrought closer to or farther from the roller, as desired, anelevating-screw being employed to secure a fine adjustment, if desired.In the same figure is shown the application of our invention to anunblocked conical hatbody, the same requiring conical rollers to operatewith facility, such as are shown in the drawings. In this figure it willbe seen that one of the rollers is inside the conical body (it isimmaterial which roller) and the other outside, so that the brim aloneis operated on, and the rest of the body is neither folded nor creasedin applying the marginal stiffening desired.

Having thus shown how our invention may be modified without altering itsprinciple of operation, We claim the same in the following manner:

1. The method herein shown and-described for applying stiffening to ahat-brim, consisting in feeding the solution to the brim by the edge ofa pressing roller, substantially as shown and described.

2. The eombinationpvith a tank of stiffening solution, of a reservoirconstructed and operated as described, to maintain the level of thesolution automatically, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a machine forstiffening hat-brims, the

combination, with a tank of stiffening-solution, of an overhung rollerrevolving in contact with the solution, and means for guiding thehatbrim and pressing it upon the roller, as and for the purpose setforth.

4;. The con1bination,with the tank of solution and the overhung roller0, revolvingin contact with the fluid, of the adjustable pressing-rollerG and the scraper 1?, arranged and operated as herein shown anddescribed.

5. The combinatiomwith the tank of solution and the overhung rollers Gand O, of the table I and gage J, arranged and operated substantially asherein set forth.

6. The combination, in abrinl-stiffening machine, of the tank K,overhung rollers O G,-

and the reservoir L, constructed with outlet N 5 and vent 0, arrangedand operated substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

EDMUND TWEEDY. GEORGE YULE.

Witnesses:

BUTLER CoLEs, THOMAS E. TWEEDY.

